From the scroll of the prophet

Monday

Apr 1, 2013 at 6:00 AM

Clive McFarlane

Back in 1976, when Peter Tosh released “Legalize It,” his defense of marijuana use may have scratched the sensibilities of those with contrarian views, but as it turns out he was a prophet of his times.

It is rather unlikely, but Tosh may have looked across the Caribbean Sea and saw the early smoke signals of the rebellion that was starting to stir at the state level against the ban on marijuana use in the U.S.

In 1975, for example, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in Ravin v. State that the state constitution’s right to privacy protects an adult’s ability to possess a small amount of marijuana in the home for personal use.

“We conclude that no adequate justification for the state’s intrusion into the citizen’s right to privacy by its prohibition of possession of marijuana by an adult for personal consumption in the home has been shown,” the court ruled in that case.

“The privacy of the individual’s home cannot be breached absent a persuasive showing of a close and substantial relationship of the intrusion to a legitimate governmental interest. Here, mere scientific doubts will not suffice. The state must demonstrate a need based on proof that the public health or welfare will in fact suffer if the controls are not applied.”

That ruling, which was reaffirmed by the court in 2006, made the Alaska Supreme Court the first and still the only state or federal court to deem that some level of marijuana use and possession is protected by a constitutional privacy right.

Still, there are now 14 states that have decriminalized small amounts of marijuana and 18 that have passed medicinal marijuana legislation. Massachusetts has done both.

The freshness of “Legalize It,” however, wasn’t just about the song capturing the futility of maintaining a marijuana ban, but of the authorities’ hypocrisy in trying.

Unfortunately, while the landscape has changed significantly on marijuana use, the hypocrisy surrounding its use continues unabated, so much so that while lawmakers are grudgingly giving in to citizens’ demands on issues such as decriminalization and medicinal use, they keep crafting legislation that makes implementation harder than it has to be.

Massachusetts’ new draft regulations on medicinal marijuana, “An Act Regarding Humanitarian Medical Use of Marijuana,” is an example, despite the assurance of Dr. Lauren Smith, interim commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

“We have sought to achieve a balanced approach that will provide appropriate access for patients, while maintaining a secure system that keeps our communities safe,” she said.

Nevertheless, the draft legislation, 45 pages replete with an overabundance of do’s and don’ts, could more appropriately be called “An Act to Dissuade the Use of Medicinal Marijuana.”

A doctor wishing to prescribe marijuana, for example, will have to jump through some 40 hoops to gain certification.

Meanwhile, as the state assures us that no taxpayer money will be used to subsidize medical marijuana use, it is also mandating that the medical marijuana centers provide and finance discounted rates for low-income residents.

Here is a simple solution: If you are worried about costs for low-income individuals, legalize it and the price will come down for everybody.